The Minister for Women’s Rights and Gender Equity, Claudia Pascual, told reporters she accepted the court’s decision, but did not agree with it.

“When one person strikes another with injuries as serious as is the case of Nabila, it is difficult to think that there was not an intention to kill,” she said.

The attack on Ms Rifo in southern Chile last year became a huge symbol of the country’s uphill battle against domestic violence.
After she was found in a bloodied heap on a road in Coyhaique, shocked neighbours held a protest calling for “respect and justice”.

President Michelle Bachelet visited her in hospital and when Ortega was sentenced in May 2017, she said justice had been served. “It is fundamental that the country defends women against violence,” she tweeted.